Treacherous!

Alpha Theodore Claude Thornton

Back then, it was a conference that Theo had almost canceled on because of his schedule as well. Well, more so that he wanted to plan a trip to see Athalia instead of going to the conference.

And to use it as an excuse for his Dad. His Dad had already forbidden him from seeing Athalia, Aubrianne's mother.

Theo planned to simply say that he went to the conference while he got to spend more time with Athalia.

That and the fact that Athalia had stopped taking his calls. He needed to check on her.

But Osouf made it impossible. He had whined and grumbled and argued for days, and at that time, the battle was almost torturous for Theo because Osouf constantly attempted to physically take over.

All because Theo wanted to see Athalia, while Osouf wished to attend the conference.

It was a battle of wills.

Osouf did not know what it was, but he knew it was something life-changing. He knew it was big. He knew it was a good thing for them.

They had been fighting for days, which is why Theo had finally caved and attended the conference.

And it was for this exact reason that Theo no longer hesitated when Osouf started acting that way again. His Beta, Ivan, had worked miracles for Theo to be able to pull off that trip and carry out all of his many other duties without hiccups.

Though Theo still had a certain amount of skepticism as he had already met his mate. So, he could not help but wonder who was out there for him to meet again? Did he have two mates? Why was it so important to attend that Career Day?

There was only ever one wolf recorded in history to have two mates. About twelve hundred years ago, a female wolf had two mates, and they fought for her love and affection.

They fought to the death, but that did not end well, as she blamed the survivor for killing a part of her the same way he was a part of her.

Their relationship did not survive the heartbreak and turmoil that came after. Plus, many had thought it was Dark magic used to mimic a mate connection. Very hard to pull off, but not impossible.

Which meant one of her supposed mates was a user of Dark magic. So there was that.

Theo's imagination never led him at one moment or the other to think it was a daughter, flesh and blood, HIS own daughter.

Who could it be? He had pondered many things.

Well, it turned out, it was Aubrianne, the Divine Moon Goddess had indeed blessed him with a daughter, and she was in her final year of college.

Theo had sniffed her out in the auditorium that day amongst the hundreds of students who had gathered around him for the knowledge he could have imparted.

And his baby girl was one of those eager-to-learn students.

A scent reached his nostrils. It was a faint scent of that sweet caramel-honeyed scent that used to drive him wild, which was Aubrianne's mother.

It always captivated his every being.

That scent caused him to immediately look up, eyes widely searching. There Aubrianne was, a student, fighting her way to the front.

'You smell that?' Osouf asked.

'Yes, I do!' Theo confirmed. Strange though, he did not know of Athalia having any family. But then again, as it turned out, there was a lot about Athalia he did not know.

'Now sniff further. Don't you smell it?' Osouf eagerly urged, wagging his tail and brimming with so much excitement. Theo was wondering what the hell was going on with his wolf.

But he immediately stopped what he was doing when he expanded his nostrils, inhaling deeply and scented his blood mixed in her DNA.

'Our pup.' Was all Osouf said.

His eyes had searched frantically for the source till he found her again. Bright, beautiful eyes stared straight at him as she fought through the crowd.

'Does she know who we are?' Theo asked his wolf because she looked at him as if he was the moon and a star that shone ever so beautifully in the sky.

'No, I don't think so. I believe our pup attends this college and is simply reacting like the thousands of other students,' Osouf offers.

Nevertheless, Theo had sent Ivan to have a word with her.

Meanwhile, 'See, I told you.' Osouf had yipped in his head, over-pleased with himself again. Patting himself on the back for his intuitions.

Theo internally scuffed but was wrapped up in his thoughts - as that was a scent he hadn't smelled in years. That honeyed caramel flavor.

Theo and Aubrianne end up having a lovely conversation. She was ambitious, had a head on her shoulders, and was into accounting just like him.

Theo was over the moon with pride and excitement.

It had taken ALL of his strength not to grab her and have his men take them back to TL, back to his lands, his city, his mountains.

He had loved how Aubrianne was thinking about her moves right after graduation. She wanted an internship, and she is brilliant, hard-working, and so ambitious he had to know her. He just had to.

And Theo was well pleased that Aubrianne was so forthcoming with him, which made it even harder for him to fight his impulse to snatch her right then and there.

He had listened to her speak of her plans, which he did not have to probe for at all. Again, because she was so forthcoming. It made it easy for him to study her closely.

Aubrianne had spoken with such intelligence and was very sure of what she wanted to accomplish at such a young age. She already had plans on how she would get there, and Theo wished to make it happen just the way she planned it.

She even had her choices of businesses to apply for internships, his firm being at the top of the list, she had said, and it was music to his ear.

Leading her straight to him in the end. He had smiled inwardly at his master plan, feeling accomplished that yet another one of his plans came to fruition and was a success as usual.

Theo decided against grabbing and running with her and instead let her do this her way.

He declared that he would make her dreams come true, so her way it was, as pride over his daughter filled his being. But he knew that though he'd declared doing this for her, Theo realized he wanted the same thing.

He felt it would be best for her.

One thing Theo knew for sure that day was that Aubrianne was his daughter. He could have smelled his blood running through her veins, and there was no doubt that she was his daughter in his mind.

What had bothered him even to this day was why Aubrianne's mother would keep her away?

But when you put what his father said into the mix, things can seem a whole lot different on shaky grounds. Was it because she thought he would not accept her?

Goddess, she must have felt so alone and abandoned. What was going through her mind? He knew what his father had said, but he thought she could still have come to him with this.

Did she think he would have abandoned her? 'Again,' Osouf had said.

And with that, realization dawned on Theo tenfold. He did abandon her. He f**king did!

Theo's Dad had forbidden him to marry Athalia, Aubrianne's mother. He had to cut off all connections to her. Theodore was in love with Athalia, but his father assumed she was a witch that had bewitched his son with her beauty, magic, and presence.

Theo instantly fell in love with Athalia and spoke to his Dad about marrying her, but his father forbade him, advising him that a strong Alpha needed his true mate, his true Destined Luna.

Mr. James Thornton was a firm believer in respecting the mate bond, especially so, because he did not. He married a wolf that was not his mate. And always believed his failures were because of this.

He believed only Theo's destined mate could stand by his side and provide for his son's needs in the way it was meant to be provided for.

Not someone who was not his mate, his true match. The one, the Divine Moon Goddess, created specifically for him.

At first, Theo had paid him no mind, but when he kept seeing Athalia, his father had forbade him once more to ever see her again. Threatening to disown him entirely, taking away his future with the company and the lifestyle he had grown all too accustomed to.

He had cut things off, but it was hard to stay away completely, so he still visited.

When his father saw that that was not working, he threatened his mother. It was that easy for that treacherous father of his to threaten Theo's mother because she was not his mate, his other half.

Plus, that man had blamed Theo's mother for all his failures, though his father had many successes in his lifetime.